A Personal Emergency Response System (PERS) enables an elderly person or other person at elevated risk of incapacitating medical emergency to summon help. For example, a PERS may be activated by a person experiencing a debilitating fall, a heart attack, an acute asthma attack or other respiratory emergency, or so forth. The PERS typically includes a mobile button device in the form of a necklace-worn pendant, a bracelet, or the like. By pressing the call button of the mobile button device, a speakerphone console in the residence is activated, by which the at-risk person is placed into telephonic contact with a PERS response agent. The agent speaks with the calling person (hereinafter referred to as a PERS “subscriber” as the person subscribes with the PERS service, although any associated costs or fees may be paid by a medical insurance company or other third party), and takes appropriate action such as talking the subscriber through the problem, summoning emergency medical service (EMS), or dispatching a neighbor or other authorized person to check on the subscriber. The PERS architecture typically assumes a homebound subscriber (where “home” may be an individual residence, a group residence, an apartment, an assisted care facility, or so forth). In this architecture, the speakerphone console is connected with a telephone line (i.e. landline) thus providing a secure physical connection to the PERS call center.
A disadvantage of this architecture is that the PERS is only usable when the subscriber is in his or her residence. Another disadvantage is that the telephone line to which the speakerphone console is connected is preferably a dedicated line, which introduces additional installation costs and monthly telephone company fees. If the speakerphone console is instead connected to a telephone line that is also used by the subscriber and others in the residence for telephone calls or the like, then the possibility exists that the telephone line may be busy at the time the subscriber initiates an emergency call.
The following discloses a new and improved systems and methods that address the above referenced issues, and others.